Judith Maloney is charged with striking her boyfriend with a glass candle container.

Bethlehem's health director, who was charged Thursday for allegedly hitting her boyfriend with a glass candle container, has been suspended.

Judith Maloney, 49, has been suspended from her position pending an internal investigation, according to a city statement released Friday.

"We feel this is in the best interest of the city and operation of the health bureau," the statement reads. "We will take the necessary time to evaluate the situation, gather relevant facts and understand more fully what led to this event."

The statement does not say whether the suspension is paid or unpaid, and city officials could not be reached.

Maloney is charged with simple assault and harassment.

Bethlehem police said Maloney smashed a glass Yankee Candle container on Michael Correll's head after an argument over the couple's dog, according to court papers. Police said the two cursed at each other after Correll returned home at 7 p.m. Thursday and found that Maloney had not put the dog outside.

"The alleged victim's version of the events of Thursday night are inaccurate and exaggerated," the statement reads. "Ms. Maloney is the true victim."

According to court records:

Correll and Maloney had dinner Thursday in Allentown. She left 20 minutes before he did, and he asked to her to let the dog outside when she got to their home in the 300 block of Grandview Boulevard in Bethlehem.

When Correll arrived home, he saw the dog was not outside, and argued with Maloney, police said.

Correll was going down a staircase, police said, when Maloney swung a glass candle at him, hitting him on the head. Correll told police that the glass container shattered and blood ran onto his face.

Correll was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg for treatment, according to police. Police spoke to Correll at the hospital, where he received three staples.

Correll could not be reached for comment Friday.

Maloney was arraigned Thursday night by Lehigh County District Judge David Harding and released on $2,500 unsecured bail.

Maloney was arrested in 2008 in a drunken-driving accident and completed a state program for first-time offenders, which scrubbed the charges from her record. Police said she crashed her car into a fire hydrant on E. Washington Avenue and had a blood-alcohol level of .17, twice the legal limit.

The day before the crash, Maloney was allegedly calling a woman whom she had a fight with at the North End Republican Club. She was charged with harassment in that case, but the charges were dropped when the woman, Kaye Newhall, then 41, of Bethlehem, failed to show for court.

The city suspended Maloney briefly, but brought her back part time and then full time.

Maloney has been health director since 2004, and her salary for 2012 is $79,379.